That Prime Minister Imran khan has gone into conniptions is unfortunate. Finance Minister Hafeez Sheikh’s defeat in the Senate election must have come as a shock but being a PM, Mr Imran Khan was supposed to react with restraint. As is his wont, to blame others for his failures, Mr Khan directed his ire at the Election Commission of Pakistan in a language used in chargesheets issued to subordinates before taking disciplinary action. He failed to realize that the ECP is a constitutional and independent body that is not accountable to him.
Seeking a vote of confidence through show of hands will not secure the government for long. A vote of no-confidence at the proper time could lead to a repeat of what happened to Dr Sheikh.
Corruption among politicians is an important issue that needs to be dealt with properly by institutions set up for the purpose. The PM has to have a broader vision to deal with the whole gamut of issues that faces the country like economic backwardness, internal stability, unemployment, and regional peace. The PM’s monomaniacal approach has taken away the government’s focus from problems faced by the common man like rising prices of essential goods, power and energy charges, jobs, and reduction of poverty. Hype over corruption has scared the business community as well as the bureaucrats replacing enthusiasm with time wasting caution. The PM is expending all his energies on a narrow agenda, unconcerned about the polarization and political instability his policy is creating in the country.
By remaining in an eternal state of conflict the PTI is destabilizing the system which is harmful for the country. The PTI created conditions for the opposition to choose the warpath. The ongoing hate campaign against opponents by labeling them thieves and dacoits has given birth to a harmful polarization in the country that weakens the state. Mr Khan should have left the corrupt to be dealt with by the NAB and courts, and paid full attention to putting life in the National Assembly, taking major issues facing the country there, evolving consensus and legislating. One had expected vainly that during the second half of his tenure the PM would come down his high horse to do all it takes to have working relations with the opposition and arrest the ongoing destabilization. His address has falsified those hopes.
